How to Photograph Your Pet for the Perfect Custom Portrait

Here's the secret about getting a great custom pet portrait: you probably already have the photos. You don't need a fancy camera, you don't need to plan a photoshoot, and you definitely don't need to learn photography.

You need to open your camera roll, pick five to ten pictures of your pet, and send them to us. We handle the rest.

A well-lit photo of a happy dog

That's the whole product. The rest of this post is just here to help you pick the right ones.

How it works, end to end

You pick five to ten photos of your pet from your phone.
You send them to us when you place your order.
Our artists turn them into a custom portrait in the style you chose.
It ships to your door, or to whoever you're surprising.

No reshoots. No back and forth. No "can you try again with better lighting." If the photos you already have are workable, we work with them. If something's off, we'll tell you before we start, and we'll usually find a way.

Why five to ten photos

One photo, no matter how perfect, only shows your pet from one angle. Our artists need to actually know your pet to capture them. That means seeing the shape of their face from different sides, the way their ears sit, the markings on the back of their head, the slope of their nose.

A single photo can't show all of that. Five to ten can.

Think of it this way: you can describe a friend's face in detail because you've seen them from a thousand angles. We need a handful of those angles to do the same for your pet.

What kinds of photos to send

You're aiming for variety, not perfection. The single most useful thing you can do is send photos from different angles:

Front-on shots where your pet is looking toward the camera
Side profiles showing the shape of the face and head
Three-quarter angles (slightly turned, somewhere between front and side)
A full-body shot or two in their typical pose

Mix it up. Five front-on selfies of your dog all taken on the same couch in the same lighting won't help our artists as much as five photos from different angles in different settings.

What makes a photo "workable"

You don't need a perfect picture. You need ones where we can clearly see your pet. As you scroll your camera roll, here's what to look for:

You can see their face. Front-on, side, or three-quarter all work great. A shot from straight above (looking down at them) is harder for us because we lose the proportions of the face. If a few of your favorites are top-downs, send them, but try to balance with photos taken at their level.

Their eyes are visible. Not squinting from the sun, not in deep shadow, not covered by a paw. The eyes are what make a portrait feel like them.

It's reasonably well-lit. Daylight is best. A photo taken near a window, outside in shade, or on an overcast day will almost always work. The ones that struggle are dim indoor shots with heavy shadows, or photos where the flash blew out their face.

It's the original from your camera roll. Not a screenshot from Instagram, not a copy from a text thread. Those get compressed and lose detail. Just send the picture straight from your phone.

If most of your photos pass those four, you're set.

You probably already have great ones

The photos you're thinking of right now, the ones that live on your home screen or that you've texted to your family twelve times, are very likely the right ones. Pet owners take an absurd number of photos of their pets (a normal and healthy behavior), which means the law of averages is on your side.

A few categories that almost always work:

The "they're just sitting there looking handsome" shot. Calm, eyes open, in decent light.
The head tilt. Personality on full display.
The window-light nap photo where they're awake but cozy. Soft light, sharp details.
The "they finally sat still for two seconds outside" shot. Outdoor light does a lot of the work for us.

Photos to skip:

Action shots where they're a blur
Photos taken in very low light
Shots from far away where they're small in the frame
Heavy filter or beauty-mode photos (the filter smooths out the fur detail we need)
Photos where their face is partially hidden or out of focus

If most of your camera roll is one of these, take a few new ones in better light before you order. It'll make a real difference.

Have more than one pet?

If you want portraits of multiple pets, each pet needs its own order. That means five to ten photos per pet, sent as a separate order.

It's not because we don't love a household of animals (we do). It's because giving each pet their own portrait means we can capture each one accurately. A single rushed photo of all three cats together won't get any of them right. Five to ten photos of each cat, separately, will.

A few things to skip

To save you the trouble, these are the things you don't need to worry about:

You don't need to take new photos. If you already have ones you love, use those.
You don't need a "good" camera. Any phone from the last several years is fine.
You don't need to edit or crop them first. Send them as-is.
You don't need to pick the "best" ones. Just send five to ten that show your pet clearly from different angles.

Quick FAQ

Can I use photos from Instagram? The originals from your camera roll are always better. Instagram compresses photos and we lose detail. If the only versions you have are from Instagram, send them anyway and we'll let you know if they'll work.

My dog is black (or my cat is all white). Does that matter? Not really. We just need photos with decent light so we can see the details of their face and fur. Window light or outdoor shade is your friend here.

What if a few of my photos aren't great? That's fine. As long as several of them are workable, we have what we need. Send your full set and we'll use the strongest ones.

Can I send more than ten? Yes, absolutely. Ten is a comfortable upper bound, but if you have fifteen great photos, send fifteen. We'll never complain about more options.

Ready when you are

Once you've picked your photos, you're done with the hard part. Browse the shop to find the format that fits, whether that's a framed portrait for the wall, a digital portrait you can order in minutes, or a mug with their face on it for the coffee table.

If you're shopping for someone else, the Father's Day gift guide for dog dads is a good place to start.

Open your camera roll. Pick five to ten. Send them over. That's it.